In Reply to: Back from Bali report posted by Kaz on Monday, 2. August 1999 at 09:29 Bali Time:
It's a shame you didn't enjoy your trip to Bali and despite *bored to tears* rudeness, I do tend to agree with him/her in that you probably didn't read the forum postings thoroughly or the warning bells would have rung that perhaps Bali wasn't your ideal destination. Bali is a 3rd world country and there is poverty.Kuta is dusty,noisy and can be very unattractive from a westernised point of view. Some of the beaches are pretty average.I'm not condemning your views as everyone has their own ideals but from reading your report,I read into it that you gained most of your opinions from staying at the one hotel,visiting the Galleria and a single or couple of trips to Kuta. Did you go anywhere else in Bali during your stay? Also if you only ate meals at the hotel(apart from McDonalds),can you really comment what the food in Bali is really like on the standards of one establishment.I personally have found that many hotels do not have the best food. You may have been happier staying somewhere else in Bali.There are a lot of forumites that stay well away from Kuta when they visit and had you ventured out a little more, you may have found something more appealling.
There are some beautiful hotels in Bali and normally you do pay for what you get. I don't know personally of the Nusa Dua Beach Hotel, so I can't comment on it. However, the tropical climate is not kind on a lot of hotels and it always seems to be an
uphill battle keeping buildings/rooms maintained. The tropical climate
also produces that mildewy odour which may be what you are referring to.
I am sorry that you didn't have a great holiday. Maybe somewhere a little more pristine and stereotypically tropical island would suit you more. I've been to the Cook Islands and Western Samoa and these places have fantastic beaches,palm trees, coral reefs,blue lagoons and definitely no hawkers selling copy goods. I would never put Bali in the same category but Bali has it's own specialness which
sees thousands of visitors return over and over again.
I wish you well on your next holiday wherever it maybe.
Regards Koala